I’m very passionate about the “I” and the “B” in IABC

Telum Media catches up with Zora Artis
GAICD SCMP, Chair, Asia Pacific Region, IABC to learn more about her vision for
the communications industry.

What
made you decide to take on the role of APAC Chair for IABC?

The
usual progression to step up as a leader in International Association of
Business Communicators (IABC) is from chapter to region then to International
Leader, but in my case it was a bit different. I was Chapter President of the
largest chapter (in Melbourne) outside North America and then I served a
three-year term on the IABC International Executive Board (IEB).

As
an IEB director you’re mindful of all members, their diversity and the
profession’s interests as a whole, and you don’t represent a geographic region.
From this experience I developed a deep knowledge of IABC, and have a
reasonable idea of what our members value and the issues that concern the
profession globally. So when the opportunity to lead the association in the
APAC region came up I thought let’s leverage this and focus on the value we can
deliver to the region.

What
do you hope to achieve in your time as Chair?

I’m
very passionate about the “I” and the “B” in IABC, and the impact that we, as
communications professionals, can have on business and society. The standard of
the work in APAC is amongst the best in the world – I see this recognised
year-on-year with IABC’s Gold Quill Awards – and our region is accelerating the
pace of change and innovation. We’d like to see more of this excellence
recognised in 2020 and share it amongst the communication community globally.

There are key areas of focus for IABC
APAC:

Advancing
the profession as a strategic function demonstrating the impact upon business,
through professional certification and the Gold Quill awards

Creating
global peer connection amongst the diverse communication professionals to
interact, share knowledge and support each other

Supporting
the growth of our 14 chapters in APAC to deliver value for their members and
community at a local level

Engaging
with and connecting our members-at-large with each other and the global IABC
member network

Are there any areas of professional
development that the IABC aims to focus in the coming months?

Regionally,
we’re very excited about our forthcoming #Fusion20 conference which will be
held 25th- 27th March 2020 in Wellington. The theme is “The Future is Now –
dynamic communications in Asia Pacific”. We’ll be offering the Global
Communication Certification Council’s (GCCC) exams for the Communication
Management Professional (CMP) and Strategic Communication Management
Professional (SCMP) certifications at the conference. Additionally, we’re
currently pulling together the free IABC APAC webinar programme for 2020, which
will feature regional senior communication leaders sharing their expertise on
specific topics.

Globally,
IABC has a breadth of professional development programmes available to members
and non-members designed around the global standard and career road map for
communication professionals. The standout PD event is the IABC World Conference
in Chicago. We also offer strategic communication education and skills training
via the IABC Academy. Free PD content from the IABC Fellows is also available
via video and podcast – the Circle of Fellows are monthly one-hour discussions
on a given topic by four outstanding experts.

What comms industry trends do you have
your eye on at the moment?

There’s
been a significant shift to show the real value of the profession to business
by moving from being the doers to trusted strategic advisors, as well as
stepping up to the C-suite. Funnily enough this is not unique to comms as it is
also the case with our marketing and HR colleagues. Some of you will say this
has been around for years, so why is it a trend? Simple – many of us still
behave like tacticians and some don’t have the business acumen, courage and
confidence needed to step up. These were clear trends at this year’s IABC World
Conference in Vancouver, and have been highlighted by recent research from
Gatehouse, VMA, CIPR, Happeo and Page.

I
wrote a series for Poppulo that explored the business value of internal
communication for the C-suite and what it takes to step up from tactician to
strategic advisor. The context and trends I identified, and the advice apply to
communication professionals irrespective of whether they have an internal or
external focus or perhaps both.

Aside from
the strategic, business acumen and courage piece, there are other trends that
directly impact our profession:

AI
– leveraging and embracing the opportunity rather than fearing it.

Data
-recognising what data is relevant, what the insights can be distilled from it
and then what you do with those insights?

Acceleration
of change – it will never be as slow as it has been to date, so can you provide
informed advice in a timely way without knowing all the data and having
certainty?

Ethics
– there are many examples of organisations behaving badly, and now community
and business expectations are changing, so as business communication
professionals are you applying the ethical lens to your advice and decisions.

Employer
/ Employee focus – there’s a clear skew to the weight of internal communication
and the importance of trust in this relationship, and the impact that this has
on culture, external stakeholders, brand experience and reputation.

What
are some of the key challenges faced by the industry currently?

Culture and ethics. The two need to work together and as
communication professionals we have an opportunity to connect the two through
alignment and robust advice. Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that publics do
expect brands to take a stand on societal issues and we’ve seen more and more
brands do this. In many cases it’s authentic to who they are and what they
stand for. But where there is a mismatch, or superficial woke-washing, we see this
called out by employees, customers, media and in some cases regulators.

Business acumen. I recently spoke with a senior
advisor to Fortune 500 companies who said, “We work in business not in
communications” – he was referring to business acumen and strategic counsel.
With the acceleration of change, boards and executive leadership are under
constant pressure and need strategic advisors who understand their context, the
business and their expectations as well as those of the external stakeholders.
So, the communication professional needs to demonstrate an understanding of how
the organisation operates and be comfortable to have a meaningful dialogue the
organisational challenges. Substantiating your business knowledge along with
your communication expertise builds your credibility and adds to the
stakeholder trust bank.

Measurement and
alignment. There’s a
quote from AMEC’s Richard Bagnall that I love, which is “we measure for
effectiveness and evaluate for value”. Being accountable for your work and
linking it back to the business problem and the impact you’ve had are key to
showing that we understand how we create value for the business as
communication professionals.

Staying ahead of the
pace of change.
Digital disruption and dealing with uncertainty are amongst the top concerns
for the C-suite. Let’s take the broader view and expose ourselves to the themes
and trends that are emerging and impacting consumer expectations. Then think
about how our business can leverage those opportunities or minimise risk from a
communications perspective.

Have
there been any PR or communications campaigns that have caught your eye in the
past year?

The
video PSA “March
for our lives” launched via social media with the hashtag
#GenerationLockdown stood out for its cut through and simplicity of message. It
is incredibly powerful and is created by McCann NYC by two Australians from
Melbourne, Alex Little and Karsten Jurkschat.

I
was also fortunate to judge the creativity category in the Australian Marketing
Institute awards and was taken with the Heart
Foundation’s Serial Killer campaign. The Heart Foundation and News Corp
created an integrated campaign to highlight that heart disease kills 51 people
a day in Australia. It drove action amongst the community to check their heart
health and increased government funding for cardiovascular disease. The
campaign was recognised for excellence in Australia with multiple awards.